Humboldt County Elections Office employees were busy verifying signatures at the close of business on Friday to determine which candidates qualify to run for office this election season.

Friday marked the deadline for the candidates to officially file their candidacy for this year's elections. In each race, if an incumbent doesn't file, the filing period remains open for five more days.

As of 5 p.m., all candidates who have announced their intention to run had filed paper work. The filing period for the 1st District supervisor's seat will stay open until March 14 with incumbent Jimmy Smith deciding not to seek reelection.

Elections Manager Kelly Sanders said the validation of signatures won't be complete until Monday.

"We want to double-check everything," she said.

If the signatures are valid, the office will send the paperwork to the California Secretary of State's Office for final certification. Candidates in local races needed 20 signatures to qualify for the ballot, while the state races require 40 signatures, Sanders said.

Garberville resident Andy Caffrey, the only Humboldt County resident to run for California's newly drawn 2nd District Congressional District, said he didn't realize he was missing three signatures until shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline. He said the elections office had the wrong number for him, so he never got a message informing him of the shortage.

"I didn't know until I came down here," he said, smiling as he finished up his filing. "I got three people, just now."

The other congressional candidates were expected to file papers in the counties where they live.

Caffrey's last signature was 1st District supervisor candidate Rex Bohn, who also was in the elections office late Friday. The Cutten resident and community leader filed his paperwork for the 1st District race, along with Eureka resident and retired school teacher Annette De Modena and former Wiyot Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Seidner.

In the 2nd District, current 2nd District Humboldt County Supervisor Clif Clendenen and former Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights Executive Director Estelle Fennell both filed their paperwork.

Current 3rd District Humboldt County Supervisor Mark Lovelace and Bayside resident and former Assembly candidate Karen Brooks filed their paperwork for the 3rd District.

Assemblymen Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata, was the only candidate to file for the District 2 Assembly race.

The Fortuna Union Elementary School District had 11 candidates file paperwork for the five board seats -- two members from each ward and one at-large member. An interim board is in place until June.

For the Fortuna Ward, the candidates are John Miller, Times-Standard Circulation Director Peter Fennell and interim board members Don Brown and Janice Olkin. For the Rohnerville Ward, the candidates are Paul Glennie, interim board member Richard Barsanti, Marilyn Strehl and Daniel Coleman.